Traveling a Chinese Road
by Leitbur
Summary: Waya and Isumi travel to China to study at the Chinese Go Institute.  Side story to The NeverEnding Road.
1. A Drive to Train

Traveling a Chinese Road: Chapter 1 – A Drive to Train

By Leitbur

Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go, or any of the characters in it. Yumi Hotta is the brain behind this story, I'm just borrowing them.

Rated T I suppose. For me, it's PG13. There might be some suggestive language, but nothing you can't find on TV.

Just so those of you reading this know, this is a side story/omake from my story, The Never-Ending Road, which takes place after the series ends, so some events mentioned may seem strange to you if you have not been following my other story. This chapter takes place after Chapter 51 in my story, so if you have not gotten that far in my story yet I suggest you do that before continuing on. Enjoy.

Note: indicates the person is speaking in Chinese.

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Staring out the backseat window of the taxicab into the heart of Beijing, Yoshitaka Waya sighed audibly. So far, China seemed boring to him. Sure he'd seen almost nothing of it, but it just seemed like a lot of buildings to him so far. Thankfully sightseeing was not the reason he'd come to China; his reason was their destination.

Turning his head, Waya glanced over at his friend Shinchiro Isumi seated next to him, eyes forward, a sober expression on his face. This was Isumi's second time to China; he at least had an inkling of what was ahead of them, the strength of the opponents they would train with and what it would take to overcome. Maybe that was why he appeared so calm now. "Hey Isumi, how long is it going to take to get there?"

Glancing over at Waya, Isumi answered, "About another twenty minutes or so. It's a thirty-minute drive from the airport if we're lucky and don't hit too much traffic. Can't you wait that long?"

"Sure, but it was already a four hour flight. I just want to get there and start playing some games."

Grunting in amusement, Isumi then replied, "Well then let's just hope we don't hit a traffic jam."

"Traffic jam?"

"Yeah," Isumi answered with a grin, "rush hour in Beijing can last up to eleven hours."

His eyes bugging out at that statement, Waya replied, "E-eleven hours!? Are you playing with me, I mean, eleven hours, what if we have to go to the bathroom? Or… what kind of place _is_ this!?"

Breaking out into laughter as he watched his friend panic, Isumi swiped his fingernails at an itch on the side of his face, then said, "Why are you in such a hurry to get there anyway? I mean sure we came here to study with the Chinese pros, but you're usually not in such a hurry to get down to that. I thought we'd get settled in at our hotel room before heading over."

A somber expression appearing on Waya's face, the young pro exhaled and returned his gaze to the window. What Isumi had said was true, normally rushing to study at the Chinese Go building would have been unheard of for him. Sure he wanted to study there, to learn from some of the best young minds in China, but his laid back mindset normally would have told him that they would get there when they did, and that the learning process would start soon enough. There was no need to rush it, to push for an early arrival when an on time arrival would do just fine, that was, until he had gone to Hikaru Shindo's house earlier today.

It was there that he'd seen the passion within his friend rekindled by the brazen words of Ko Yeong Ha, been touched by the fiery intensity that could make a lesser player gasp for breath. Hikaru's intensity was of a contagious sort this time, and it had infected Waya's heart as well. For now Waya found that he too could not stand by and allow such words to pass, even if his own strength right now likely could not compete with those that Korea would send to the Hokuto Cup.

More than that though was the other piece of news that Waya had received at Hikaru's house that drove him on now; the news that Hikaru Shindo and Akira Toya had both been pre-selected as participants in that tournament. Not that it was overly shocking when he thought about it, if the Honinbo League had qualified Akira last year for it then the Kisei League certainly qualified Hikaru for it. No, the problem arose not in the reasoning behind Hikaru's inclusion with Akira for the tournament, but rather what that inclusion meant; that there was now only one more spot open for the tournament.

In some ways it didn't change the conditions much since even if he hadn't been chosen in advance there was no doubt in Waya's mind that Hikaru would have gotten through the qualifier. No, the issue arose that Hikaru would not be there to eliminate some of the competition for him, perhaps even players like Yashiro whose skill likely surpassed Waya's at the moment. Unfortunately that was likely what the Go Association had been thinking too, that there was no reason to make an almost certain participant knock off a deserving third player from the final spot, not to mention the slight possibility that Hikaru might actually have a bad day and not make it in at all.

Then again, it also meant there was no chance for Hikaru to knock Waya out either but the lack of protection was of concern as well. This feeling of missing Hikaru's protection though, Waya couldn't put words to it just now but he was certain that he didn't like it one bit. It ate away at his gut, grinding like a millstone upon his stomach.

The competition, even without Hikaru, was going to be fierce. Though Honda was now nineteen and ineligible, Ochi, Yamada, and Yashiro would all be returning along with anyone else the Kansai Go Association and Central Branch sent. They would be joined by the new pros, Nase, Komiya, and Sato to form what was now basically a single elimination tournament with only the winner moving on. All of them would be strong and hungry to take their spot on the team, the chance to gain international recognition as well as to test themselves against the world.

That was why he wanted to get to the Chinese Go Association building so badly, to begin to push the limits of his game, to prepare himself for the challenges ahead of him. And, on a slightly more long-term thought, to begin to familiarize himself with the Chinese pros he might very well be facing.

Isumi of course knew none of this yet as Waya had not had the time to tell him what he had learned at Hikaru's place, since Isumi had slept through most of the flight. To him this was just a trip to see his friends at the Chinese Go Institute, to enjoy himself and get a little study time in as well. Should he tell him now, explain to him why he was so determined to improve his skills? No, not yet. If he knew Isumi would likely start to take this trip more seriously, push himself and lose part of the reason he had for coming. He'd tell him tonight at the hotel, after they'd spent the day at the institute and Isumi had time to reminisce with his friends.

"I'm looking forward… to testing my strength is all."

Grunting in amusement once more, Isumi replied, "Test your strength? I would think that playing Shindo as much as you do would be a good enough test of your strength."

Shaking his head, eyes staring forward into the future, Waya answered, "No, it's different and you know it. Playing Shindo at the study group is not the same as playing him for real, and having done that last month I can tell you there's definitely a difference. The Chinese players, they're like Shindo, played and matched him at the Hokuto Cup. From them I might be able to get more of a challenge than from practicing against Shindo since he doesn't play all out then. I need more games like I had against Shindo in the Tengen tournament, that's how I'll improve."

Eyeing his friend with interest now, Isumi inhaled and exhaled softly. Though Waya was struggling to hide it, Isumi could see the determination and anxiousness in his friend clearly. Something had pumped him up, focused him to push his game. What it was he didn't know, or for that matter was it his business to inquire; Waya would tell him when he wanted to. "Ok then, it's your trip, I'm just here for the ride. We'll go to the Institute building first." And were they ever going to get a load out of Waya. Chuckling to himself as he glanced at Waya once more, Isumi couldn't help but think that this trip was going to be far more interesting than he might have initially planned.

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"How much longer Isumi?" Waya muttered for the hundredth time.

Sighing, Isumi answered, "We're almost there Waya, just a couple more minutes, so would you stop asking me already! I mean, come on, you're worse than Chi-chan at times."

Grinning slyly back at Isumi, Waya replied, "Ooooooh, _Chi-chan_ huh? You and Sakarano getting cozy I see, huh _Shin-chan_?"

Frowning a moment, Isumi quickly replaced it with a grin and shot back, "Well at least I don't need to get a promotion in Dan ranking to get a girl to go out with me Waya."

"HEY, THAT IS NOT MY IDEA! She blackmails me into it, then tells me about her wedding plans and wants to go places her parents used to go for dates!"

Bursting out in laughter, Isumi grabbed his stomach in an attempt to contain himself and stuttered back, "Oh my, you're… just like Shindo…priceless face… hahahahaha."

Scowling angrily, Waya turned his gaze back to the window, spotting a large building that they were fast approaching. That must be it, the Zhonnguo Qi-Yuan, the building where the young Chinese pros lived and studied. It was about time too as the drive had been torturous. Not only was he anxious to begin playing, but for the last twenty minutes or so Isumi had continued to glance over at him and then snicker to himself, as if he was aware of some inside joke that Waya was not. Regardless though, Waya was just glad to be here now, that was what mattered, not the hidden joke.

Opening the door and stepping out as the taxi pulled up to the entrance, Waya stared up at the building before him with a look of both wonder and eager anticipation. This was it, the reason they'd come here, and soon he'd be playing some of the best in the world, training to raise his game. _Shindo, here I come._

Glancing back to see Isumi paying the taxi driver as unlike Waya Isumi had some understanding of Chinese currency, Waya waited a few moments longer for Isumi to reach him before saying, "Well, shall we?"

Chuckling to himself once more, Isumi nodded. "Yes, let's get going."

Falling back behind Isumi as they began to make their way toward the entrance, Waya inhaled deeply as he began to rub his fingers together. Thinking back on it now it was likely a good thing that he'd relented to Isumi and had them stop at the hotel to drop off their luggage first, as it would have been a pain to carry it around. Perhaps he was getting a little too anxious after all. It would be best if he reserved himself, as he didn't want to appear rude or worse, immature, to the players here.

Making there way in, Waya watched as Isumi went to the person by the front desk and began to inquire to him in Chinese about something, likely explaining who they were and their reasons for coming. It seemed that taking those Chinese classes in his spare time were paying off after all for Isumi, something Waya was partially responsible for actually as if he hadn't eliminated Isumi from the Meijin Tournament he never would have had so much free time.

As the man at the front desk looked beyond Isumi to Waya however, Waya couldn't help but notice that the man's eyes nearly shot out, as if he were shocked to see him here. It made no sense really since Waya was certainly not famous, especially on an international level. The only other way would be… wait, hadn't Isumi mentioned something after his last trip, that he…

" Hey look, it's Isumi! He's come back again! "

Turning to look off toward a stairway where the loud voice had come from, Waya spotted a pair of Chinese youths who he assumed must have been pro players walking toward Isumi, bright smiles on their faces. Isumi meanwhile turned to face them and smiling replied, " Hello you two! How are you doing? "

The pair halted as they stared at Isumi, then the shorter one responded, " Isumi… you can speak Chinese now? "

" A little. I started learning a short time ago, thought it would be… useful? "

Chuckling, the pair nodded, although what they were nodding to Waya had no clue. In fact, not knowing what they were saying seemed kind of… annoying. The tall one then responded, " Well we're all doing well here. Man, Le Ping is going to just go nuts when he sees you. Ever since you left he… "

The man's voice trailed off as his eyes passed over Waya, then flying back in a double take as his eyes widened and his jaw went slack. His shorter friend then followed his line of sight until he too spotted Waya and his face went into the same dumbfounded expression. It was then that Waya fully recalled what Isumi had said, that he looked like a large version of some kid here, some kid that was named…

" Le Ping!? " the two young pros bellowed. Frowning, Waya glared over at Isumi who was once more laughing nearly to the point of tears. He'd known this was going to happen, damn him. Well, this was certainly shaping up to be an… interesting trip indeed.

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Author's Notes:

And so Waya and Isumi's adventures in China begin. In case you're wondering about Isumi learning Chinese, it was hinted at slightly in the main story. Go reread Chapter 33 if you want to know where. I wouldn't be too surprised if it slipped by you though, as more intriguing things were taking place in that chapter, and that's why it's there, since I find the best place to hide clues to future events are in places where the reader isn't looking for them. I had considered writing the Chinese dialog in Chinese to give the reader the same sensation that Waya is having, but decided to use this way instead to save time and confusion. Note that Isumi, when speaking in Chinese, will hesitate before a word or phrase. This is to show that he is still learning the language, and I will be trying to keep his Chinese statements simple as a result.

I was delayed from finishing this chapter due to the mental and emotional breakdown my girlfriend deciding to break up with me caused. Hopefully I'll get through this and get back on track shortly. This side story is going to be focusing, as you may have guessed, on Waya as he tries to find that next level of play that Morishita and others have told him that he still can achieve. Whether or not it will be achieved is another matter, but as Waya and Isumi have both stated, it will certainly be an interesting experience. Also, this will be a three week trip for Isumi and Waya, so this side story will be much shorter than the previous one, likely four chapters. To help avoid further confusion between the main story and this one I'll be posting the chapter this takes place after in the main story for each side story chapter. Hopefully that will help you to see where everything is supposed to go chronologically.

Terms:

I won't be doing many of these in this side story, but I thought I'd cover a few points.

Beijing: This is the capital of the People's Republic of China, and one of two cities in China with a Go Association building located in it, the other being Shanghai. Unlike Shanghai however Beijing has many people in it who are politically tied to a point that having a limited driver's license lottery to keep traffic down is not possible, and thus the traffic issues mentioned do occur. This is supposedly going to be fixed in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but many believe China will simply ban people from driving during the games.

Zhongguo Qi-Yuan: This is the name of the Chinese Go Building in Beijing, located in the Congwen District, located at No.80, East Road of Temple of Heaven. Young pro and amateur players board here and practice constantly, it is a place for only the elite. It actually handles many types of games both board and card games including chess, bridge, Chinese chess, and so on.

Note, in China Go is known as Weiqi.

The next chapter will be coming soon, as Waya finally gets to start playing the Chinese pros, but can he concentrate and win with his clone bouncing around?


	2. Circus Woes and First Day Go

Traveling a Chinese Road: Chapter 2 – Circus Woes and First Day Go

By Leitbur

This chapter takes place after Chapter 51 of The Never-Ending Road.

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Inhaling and exhaling in an attempt to clear the distractions from his mind, Waya gazed across the board at the Chinese player that he was about to play. This was what he had wanted after all, a chance to test his strength against some of the best young players in the world.

Still, it could have been better. The chatter around him once more entered Waya's consciousness and a frown covered his face. All these people watching him, chatting in Chinese so that no matter what words of advice, encouragement or whatever were being said, Waya had no clue. What he was sure about though was that the conversations were about him. Thinking back on their arrival all of fifteen minutes ago, Waya knew exactly who was to blame for this. _Damn you Isumi_.

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With a contemptible frown on his face, Waya walked behind Isumi as they made their way to the practice hall. From what he had been told before they had left, the Chinese pros actually lived here in the building and practiced their games constantly, in a way making this much like a boarding school for Go players. Moreover only the best of the best even came here from all the thousands of players across China. According to Isumi, this really helped to increase the skill levels of the players, and created a very enjoyable atmosphere.

All of that had only helped to fuel Waya's desire to come, to be around Go in such an atmosphere seemed to be just what he needed now, but after the incident at the door he wasn't so sure anymore. The shocked stares and the shouting of the name Le Ping had brought it all back to Waya, he had now recalled why that one Chinese guy had suggested he visit in the first place. It was because he looked like some large version of this Le Ping person.

Glancing up ahead of him at Isumi as the pair scaled the stairway, Waya gave Isumi a cold stare. Isumi had known this would happen, and Waya was certain that the fact that someone else here looked just like him had not slipped Isumi's mind as it had Waya's, all that chuckling in the taxi was proof enough. His best friend had set him up, and Waya did not like it one bit.

Rounding the staircase as they reached another floor, Waya paused as Isumi veered away from the stairway and walked off toward an open doorway. This must be the training hall. Once he stepped through there he would truly reach his destination on this trip, and yet now with the sudden revelation of minutes before Waya found himself to be hesitating. The entire flight and subsequent car ride over here he had been anticipating this moment, but now that it was here he began to feel unworthy. Isumi's trick was not helping matters, as Waya had no desire to be a circus attraction to the Chinese pros inside that room. How could he be taken seriously when he was just a form of amusement to them?

Stopping ahead of him, Waya watched Isumi turn back toward him and as their eyes met the older Go pro saw the worries in his friend's eyes. A slight guiltiness entered Isumi now, as he was starting to think that keeping quiet about the whole Le Ping thing might have been too much, as Waya seemed to be having second thoughts. Trying to give his friend a reassuring smile and only partially succeeding, Isumi motioned for Waya to follow before turning back toward the entrance.

Watching for a moment as his friend entered the room in front of him, Waya inhaled deeply. It wasn't entirely too late to call this off, to get their things from the hotel and head back home. But if he did that, he would be running away from the very thing he had come here seeking; strength. Was that perhaps something he wanted though, to remain as he was now? It seemed ludicrous, but in a strange way there was a certain comfort to weakness. If he played a game and lost, it was because he was weak, his opponent had simply been a better, stronger player than him. But if he had strength, was in fact equal to or superior to his opponent and failed, what was there to say then? Weakness was a convenient excuse, one that he was not used to wielding after years as a top insei, but before opponents like Hikaru Shindo and Akira Toya, it had become common place.

No one expected anything from him, watched on anticipating victory, not in the games that truly mattered anyway. Sure he could play with the best of the lower Dans, but that wasn't what he'd become a pro to do either. Both Hikaru and Ochi had risen to the Tengen Main Tournament, and he in his weakness had been left behind. Sure, he'd faced Hikaru in his last match of that tournament, of course he had fallen. Weakness was expected of him, and it was a scapegoat that worked quite well.

Looking down at his hands, Waya saw them begin to tremble even as something came over him, sharpening his mind to a truth. The truth was, it was a scapegoat that Waya could no longer stand, regardless of the harshness he might have to endure once rid of it. Hikaru would not back down and quit, he always rallied and pushed himself to a new level. If Hikaru could do it, then so could Waya. He had felt it inside him while at Hikaru's home, even through the force of will Hikaru had been emitting upon reading that article. Waya's own pride, his Go player's will, calling out for action, for vindication from those who would deny it to him. Vindication for his years of struggle and devotion to this game, vindication for the battles of will and sacrifices made to attain his current position, a vindication that he truly belonged here. Such a vindication existed between himself and his friends, but it was not good enough. He wanted the rest of the Go world to vindicate him, and that vindication would only come with strength on his part. And so it would be strength that Waya would show them.

Looking at the door again, Waya heard the chatter of words that were totally foreign to him, yet held within them an excitement that Waya could empathize with. It was time to take the next step forward. Exhaling deeply, Waya paused a moment longer and then began moving toward the door.

Meanwhile Isumi had made his way into the practice room, hesitating at the door for a moment for his own reasons. Though Waya and he had cleared their visit with Mr. Li beforehand, from what little he had been able to gleam from the Chinese pros in the lobby, the news of his coming had not been spread around to the other pro players. It had been over a year and a half since he'd last been here, and the question of how the others would react upon seeing him had weighed somewhat on his mind. Would many of them even remember who he was? Sure Yang Hai, Zhao, Le Ping, even Liu would likely remember him, but the others, would they remember him at all? It wasn't like he could speak Chinese back then, and most of his time had been spent practicing with Yang Hai and later Le Ping, even if he'd found time for other opponents in between. Well, there was only one way to find out.

As he took another step into the room proper, Isumi took a deep breath, exhaled, and then moved in a few more paces, glancing around at the players all about him. It was getting a little late into the afternoon now, so not all of the tables that would normally be full were still occupied, some players having finished up their league games and moved on to either playing pick up speed Go, or else observing games that were still in progress. Still, there was a sense of excited tension in the air, despite many of the more relaxed expressions going on around him. More importantly though was the fact that he was able to make out parts of conversation around him, even if it was only pieces here and there.

Then, fifteen seconds or so into his entrance to the room it happened. " Isumi, is that you!? "

" Huh, Isumi? "

" What, Isumi? Hey look guys, Isumi came back to visit! "

The rest of the words were lost in a sea of garbled utterances as heads swung around to stare at Isumi while others, not involved in their own games right now, began to make their way over to him. Smiling, Isumi nodded and gave short bows to his fellow Go players, so they had remembered him after all. " Thank you, it is good to see… everyone. How are all of you? "

A pause came as the Chinese pros stared once more at their fellow pro. Then came a voice saying, " Hey, Isumi learned Chinese! " This was followed by a jumble of questions, all in quick succession that Isumi was struggling to comprehend, although he was fairly certain he'd heard a compliment of his Chinese linguistic skills amongst them somewhere. Then, as Isumi caught the sound of light footsteps behind him, silence filled the room save for the occasional sound of stones hitting wood.

Turning to look behind him, Isumi spotted Waya standing there with an uncomfortably nervous expression on his face, likely due to the fact that everyone around them was staring dumbfounded at him. Sighing heavily as the seconds seemed to pass by endlessly, Isumi frowned as he realized how disconcerting this must have been for Waya. He had better do introductions to break the silence. But before he could a voice rang out, " Is… is that Le Ping? "

" It can't be, he's too big! "

" Wow, a jumbo-sized Le Ping! "

" Yeah, like a clone! Are you sure it's not Le Ping on stilts or something? "

Several of the Chinese players had in the meantime moved passed Isumi and begun to look Waya over, searching perhaps for some form of trick or explanation, trying to find a difference from the Le Ping they knew. Then one of the inspecting pros added, " Hmmm, I wonder what Le Ping will say when he sees this? "

" When I see what? " The other pros froze as moving past Waya from behind, apparently oblivious to the older spitting image of himself standing to his right, stood Le Ping. As his eyes scanned the crowd the young pro suddenly focused on the face of Isumi in the middle and his face lit up. " Isumi! You came back! This is great, come on, play me in a game! I'll beat you this time, I'm a lot better! "

Smiling nervously as for the first time ever Isumi was able to see Waya and Le Ping side by side, the older pro answered, " Yes, we can play a game Le Ping. I have become… stronger too. "

" Hey, " Le Ping shouted back, " Isumi learned Chinese! Hmph, not very good Chinese though. "

" Hey Le Ping, that's not a very nice thing to say to Isumi! "

The outburst from the one Chinese pro had seemed strange since everyone else was still staring at Le Ping and Waya in amazement. Le Ping meanwhile was completely oblivious as he shot back, " But it's true!… Hey, why is everyone staring at me like that? Is there something on my face? "

Through all this Waya had been staring down to his left at what he could only describe as a miniature version of himself. Despite everything that had been said by Isumi and the other Chinese players at the Hokuto Cup, Waya had always imagined that the resemblance was just that, a resemblance. That perhaps if one of them changed their hairstyle or something the comparison would cease, but looking at this kid now, it was like staring at the old pictures of himself that his mom would bring out from time to time.

Then, as Waya continued to stare, Le Ping turned his head and stared back up at him, their eyes locking on the near mirror images of each other. That was what it was like, as if they were each standing before one of those trick mirrors at a carnival, the ones that distorted one's height to either be much taller or shorter. Even their expressions at the moment matched, one of shock and curiosity toward each other.

At last Le Ping raised his arm up and pointed his finger in bewilderment at Waya before saying, " Me? "

At those words the two turned to fully face each other, and Waya, feeling somewhat awkward as he had no idea what the kid had just said, simply bowed slightly and stated, "Umm… hello, my name is… Waya… I umm… it's a pleasure to um… meet you?"

Le Ping just continued to stare a moment longer, then repeated, "Waya?" With those words Le Ping's brow contorted as if he was playing with the name in his head, twisting and spinning it around to make sense of it. Then suddenly his face lit up as recognition came over him and pointing his finger once again, this time far more forcefully, Le Ping shouted, " Oh, Waya! You're Isumi's friend, the one he said looked just like me! "

At the sudden burst of gibberish, Waya jumped slightly, turning his eyes to Isumi hoping for some sort of explanation from his friend. Meanwhile others had begun to inquire to Isumi if this was true, causing Isumi to feel rather overwhelmed himself. " Um… yes, this is my friend Waya. He is a pro player like me, and came to study Go here with all of you. "

A collective 'ahh' came from the Chinese crowd, making Waya feel slightly more comfortable as it seemed that Isumi was at least trying to explain the situation, even if the only thing he'd made out was his name. Then, as he turned his head back toward his mini-me, Waya gasped as Le Ping reached out and gripping the hem of his shirt lifted it up to expose his abdomen.

Eyebrows raised while others looked on in horror, dumbstruck as Le Ping seemed to study Waya's stomach before saying, " Wow, he even has an outie belly button like me! "

Then from the crowd one of the Chinese voices shouted, " Le Ping, stop that, you're being rude to Waya. "

Turning his head toward the familiar voice, Isumi spotted the tall, slender form of Liu advancing out of the crowd. As he approached Le Ping frowned as he let go of Waya's shirt and said, " But I was only curious. You're no fun Liu! "

Frowning himself now, Liu responded, " That's no excuse, you should apologize to Waya for that. If you wanted to know, then you should have just asked him. "

" But he doesn't speak Chinese! "

" Then you should have asked someone who spoke Japanese to translate for you. Now apologize! "

His frown deepening, Le Ping glanced at the others around him for a moment, then turned to look at Waya before lowering his head and muttering an apology that even Isumi with his limited vocabulary of Chinese could tell wasn't entirely sincere. As Le Ping finished Liu turned to Waya and said, "I apologize for Le Ping's behavior, he can be rather impulsive."

Nodding, Waya replied, "Oh, um well that's all right, I'm not offended." In reality Waya was just glad to be hearing actual Japanese spoken at the moment. He had been feeling like a total outsider until now, and had even begun to worry at how well he'd be able to interact with these people without Isumi around. Then again, if Isumi had been able to do it for two months on his own, then Waya certainly could do it whether Isumi was here or not.

Liu meanwhile smiled at Waya's words and continued, "Well my name is Liu, Li-sensei talked to me about your visit and explained its purpose. He wished me to tell you that both you and Isumi are welcome to join in our league matches starting tomorrow, and may play as much as you like as we welcome all wishing to learn. We can get both of you an opponent now even, if you're feeling up to it that is."

Smiling, Waya nodded. "Yes, I'd like to start playing."

Nodding back, Liu turned to Le Ping and said, " Le Ping, would you like to play against Waya? "

Shaking his head, Le Ping answered, " No thanks, I'll see how good he is some other time. I want to play Isumi. "

Shrugging, Liu turned toward the crowd of players that were gathered here and said, " Ok, who here is willing to play a game with Waya? "

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Counting out the white stones, Waya came to a total of eight. His opponent had grabbed two stones, Waya would be white. Placing the stones back into the bag, Waya lowered his head and said, "Onegaishimasu."

The Chinese player before him bowed similarly. "Qǐng duōduō zhǐjiāo."

While Waya did not know what exactly had just been said, he had a hunch it was the Chinese equivalent to onegaishimasu. Still he didn't have very long to think about it though as quickly his opponent reached into his Go bowl and placed his stone on the 16-4 star point in the upper right corner. Pausing a moment as his mind fully entered a Go playing state, Waya responded with a stone to the 4-3 in the upper left. His opponent wasted no time playing the 4-17 in the lower left, a move Waya quickly followed with a play at 17-16, lower right corner.

While the match wasn't exactly timed for speed Go, as they had given themselves half an hour each, from the looks of it time was not going to be much of a factor. Perhaps that would be a good thing for Waya, since it would call for tactics over deep strategies. His opponent's quick move to 3-5 therefore came as no surprise, as the knight's move attacked his position in the upper left. When time was limited and planning compromised, aggression was usually the best strategy to use.

Ignoring the approach on his own position, Waya placed his stone at 4-15, an approach on his opponent's lower left corner. Even before he played it, Waya was certain he knew his opponent's reaction, and moments later he was proved right as his opponent played the pincer at 3-13, slightly strange since the normal pincer would have been on the 4th line, but the move was not completely uncommon.

Placing his own stone at 4-7, likewise pincering his opponent's knight's move with one of his own, Waya waited for the few seconds he was allowed before his opponent played his move. Cocking an eyebrow, Waya observed the black stone n 5-5 for a moment, taking in the position. It was an interesting ploy, a one point jump, causing him to need to play looser to group the stones as trying to thrust through them would be unproductive for his desired shape.

Playing the diagonal at 6-4, Waya barely had time to think before his opponent had played the 4-10 point, prompting a 6-7 response from Waya to create space, not to mention begin to box in the attack on the upper left corner, but his opponent seemed undeterred.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

The game thus far was not going as Waya would have normally anticipated as his opponent was not focusing in on the corner battles as much as he would have suspected, especially for a fast paced game. If it was a moyo game then perhaps it would have made better sense, but given the small attacks that were already jockeying for position on the board, Waya would have expected a corner battle by now. Yet instead the battles were being waged on the sides of the board, starting on the left side and now beginning to pick up on the lower edge. Waya had to admit a little disconcertion, or he would have if he'd had time to think about it. He had been engaged in side battles before, but normally there was more of an established position within the corners before that occurred, but not here.

Again and again the moves came down, the battles jumping about the board, up to the upper edge, the over to the upper right corner where Waya had been able to establish a small hold on the corner, but the more the stones came down the more Waya felt the pressure to attack fade within him. He had raced, engaged, invaded, and yet still he found himself on the defensive now, trying to ward off an opponent that seemed ready to give him the entire right side of the board in exchange for a majority of the center.

Not only that, but it was going to be a struggle to get his groups in the upper and lower left corners to maintain life, even if he'd thought himself well off on that front twenty moves before. His best chance to save them would be to link them up somehow with his structure on the left side, but that was easier said then done, especially for the group in the upper left. To save the group, he'd have to invade into the center of the board and pierce the defenses his opponent had begun to position there. That's what this game was going to come down to, if he could invade and make life in the center, he would win, if not, he was lost.

There was no time for him to delay either. Taking a deep breath, Waya placed his stone down at 11-10, and the invasion was begun. As the stones continued to land upon the board, Waya felt the sweat drops begin to run down his temples. This wasn't going well, his opponent was strong and resilient, cutting off Waya's invasion at every turn. In some ways it felt like he was playing his teacher, or Hikaru in a way, the strength in play was becoming more apparent.

He could make life in the lower left corner now, but to do so would force him to sacrifice his invasion to the center. Moreover he was netted in, and if he tried to push through he'd just be annihilated. There was nothing more he could do, the position would not change. Lowering his head, Waya closed his eyes and said, "I resign."

-------------------------------------------

"So Isumi," Waya said as he pulled off his shirt in the hotel room, "what were they saying about my games today?"

Glancing up at Waya from his suitcase, Isumi responded, "You were there, you saw them discussing the moves afterward. They may not have been speaking Japanese, but I'm sure you were able to make out their comments on the game from their gestures and such."

Shaking his head as he glanced out the window for a moment into the night sky, Waya replied, "Yes I was able to, but that's not what I meant."

Pausing from his search through his suitcase, Isumi gazed over at his friend and said, "Then what?"

"I want to know what they were saying about the level of my ability, my style of play, that sort of thing. I heard my name enough times, so I'm sure they were discussing my strength."

Frowning, Isumi answered, "Well… they did feel you were strong. My vocabulary isn't that great but I'm pretty sure I heard one of them say you were determined too. It might have been easier if Yang Hai had come down from his room earlier, before my game with Le Ping had begun. Why do you want to know though?"

Exhaling deeply, Waya answered, "Well… I just sort of want to know how I stack up to them. I mean I could tell the players I faced today were all strong, probably stronger than me, but given how fast we were playing it was hard to tell just how much better. What I don't know though is where I stand with them as a whole, and how much better I need to get if I'm to be able to face them in competition."

"Competition?" Isumi repeated with a bewildered expression. "Why are you worrying about that? Just focus on improving your game, the international tournaments are months away."

Shaking his head, Waya replied, "Maybe, but if I'm going to make it into the Hokuto Cup, or any of the other tournaments, then I need to know where I stand, and if I can compete with the competition I'll face."

"Well if it's the Hokuto Cup," Isumi answered, "then you should probably try to spend some time playing the younger pros like Zhao Shi, Le Ping, and the other teenagers. Besides, even if Akira Toya gets seeded again, there's still two spots open and you just missed it last year. Just keep working on your game and I'm sure you can make it."

"No," Waya replied somberly, "there aren't two spots still open." Staring dead straight at Isumi's confused face now, Waya continued, "I didn't mention it earlier, but when I went to Shindo's place earlier this morning he told me that he'd received a letter saying that both he and Toya had been seeded into the Hokuto Cup. There's only one spot left, and I want the final spot to go to me."

Holding his gaze with Waya for a few moments, Isumi slowly lowered his head and returned to searching through his suitcase. So that was why he'd been so intense on the ride from the airport. This wasn't just about improving his game, it was about justifying his place amongst the pros, proving that he belonged to stand among the rest of the young pros that were rising up in Japan.

Waya had been struggling mentally over the last year, particularly since last April when he'd fallen to Ochi in the Hokuto Cup qualifier. The fact that Ochi had gone and thrown away the chance he'd won from Waya had to hurt, but not as much as what that proved. Waya would not have given Yashiro the chance to redeem himself, despite the fact that Yashiro was the superior player. No one would have blamed him of course, that was how the luck of the draw would have gone, but in its own way Ochi showed a strength and confidence in his own game that Waya had lacked. Some might call it weakness, and in a way Isumi was sure Waya saw it that way.

It must have been difficult, living in the shadow of Hikaru and Ochi. While in terms of strength Ochi likely held little advantage over Waya, in terms of his record and success in going deep into tournaments, Ochi had Waya beat. Then there was Hikaru who made any comparison between the other two unfair, playing at the level that he did. Hikaru didn't make the other two passers in his year look weak, he made just about every lower Dan save Akira Toya look weak. Looks were deceiving of course as Waya, Isumi, Yashiro, and Ochi were all closer to Hikaru than many in the Go world might believe. The greatest difference came not in current strength, but rather in potential, and for someone like Waya who saw that potential becoming more real every week, it must have been disheartening.

Getting to the bottom of the suitcase, Isumi gripped the wooden Go board and removed the flat board gently, placing it on the floor next to him. For Isumi, a year removed from that group, things seemed far different as he'd come in passing the pro exam with ease. His competition and rivalry with Waya, Ochi and Hikaru was different from the one those three shared. More importantly, Isumi had discovered a means to disconnect himself from that mental struggle to find a calm that kept his game razor sharp. Yang Hai had shown him that, and perhaps in time it could be shown to Waya as well.

Removing the two empty Go bowls along with a pair of sealed plastic bags containing the stones, Isumi inhaled and said, "They mentioned that you played very aggressively and didn't take the time to think your moves through in key situations. Granted you were basically playing hayago so I wouldn't draw too much from that."

"So I don't look deeply enough into a position?"

Pausing a moment, Isumi answered, "No, I don't think that's what they meant. Besides, I think any judgements they have on your game should wait until we play the 90-minute league games tomorrow. Deep thinking isn't exactly something that can be judged in such a game."

Shaking his head slowly, Waya just responded, "Maybe. I just… thought my hayago was better than this."

Pushing his suitcase aside, Isumi lifted the Go equipment up and said, "Don't think about that now Waya. Come on, let's play a game, then we'll tackle all this tomorrow."

Smirking slightly with an amused grunt, Waya nodded. "Sure, why not."

-------------------------------------------

Author's Notes:

My, this is probably the longest side story chapter I've written, more in line with the length of a normal chapter from the main story. I think it has something to do with the fact that I had a lot of things to fit into the chapter due to the limited length of this side story. I apologize for the long delay, but as I mentioned before as I was finishing up the last chapter my girlfriend broke up with me so my mental state wasn't in the right frame of mind to write.

So Le Ping and Waya finally meet; hopefully it fell into your own opinions on what such an occurrence might look like. My opinion was that while the resemblance was a big issue for a lot of other people, to Waya it was an annoyance while to Le Ping it was an interesting thing but not as important as his competition with Isumi. While it might grow into something more after they play, Le Ping's match with Isumi and subsequent inability to score a crushing victory has likely had time to bake and eat away at his mind to where another chance would be welcome, similar to Hon Suyon's feelings about Hikaru.

Terms:

Qǐng duōduō zhǐjiāo: This is what the Chinese say before a game begins. Roughly translated it means 'Please instruct me." Note that this is Mandarin Chinese, don't ask me to give you the Cantonese version as I don't know any Cantonese. If you're confused, there are about four main dialects/languages of Chinese in China, Mandarin, Wu, Min, and Cantonese. Mandarin is the most common, spoken by about 850 million Chinese, with the others averaging between 70-90 million speakers apiece. Cantonese is actually the least spoken at around 70 million people, but probably much better known than Wu and Min. This is because Cantonese is the main language in areas of China like Hong Kong and Macao, two of the heaviest economic areas in China, especially internationally. Thus foreign investors are more exposed to this dialect/language than the other two, not including Mandarin. Oh, and in case you wonder why I mark it as a dialect/language, it's mainly because they are indistinguishable from one another, yet are defined as a form of Chinese (it's really complicated).

Now, to your questions. The next chapter I will be dealing with the article and statements made by Ko Yeong Ha, and the Chinese do have a take on those words, although it is certainly not just one take.

Yes, my girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend, is pregnant and due to give birth to our son Joshua in September. The issues involved around possible custody and the amount of time I'd get to see my son have been at the forefront of my mind, plus there's now apparently been a challenge to the paternity of the child, so you can imagine why my head's been other places as of late.

Note: The game Waya played was based on the 34th Chinese Individual Championship, Round 7, played on 09-22-2001 between Yang Yi 4 - Dan (Black) and Li Yonggang 4 – Dan (White). Black won by resignation. It should also be noted that what Waya observed is true, Chinese Go players tend to focus more on the sides of the board while Japanese players play more in the corners. This is not always true, but it is a trend that has been noted.

Next chapter we will begin to truly delve into the situation of Waya's attempts to improve, as well as preparing for the Hokuto Cup Qualifier. Before that though we'll be going back to the main story for a chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to focus and get t hem both out promptly.

Thank you for your reviews, they were quite enjoyable to read. Please keep it up. R&R!


	3. China's Best

Traveling a Chinese Road: Chapter 3 – China's Best

By Leitbur

This chapter takes place after Chapter 53 of The Never-Ending Road.

* * *

Klak.

Placing his black stone down firmly on the 18-9 point, Waya struggled with himself to hold back a smile. This game was circling slowly into the final stages now, and unless his opponent pulled off something unexpected, Waya was going to win. Time had gone by so fast for him as he had now been here for just under two weeks with one more week to go before he had to return to Japan. Not only did he and Isumi need to get back to play their Toyota Cup preliminary matches, a majority of them taking place even as he sat here playing, but he had also given his word to Nase that he'd be there to see her play Ogata Judan. That other guy, Sato or something, his Shinshodan match was two days from now against Kuwabara Honinbo, but really Waya wasn't all that interested in that match.

Klak.

So, his opponent's response was 18-8, a ceding of the lower half of the right side of the board in the hopes of retaining the upper right. Not that Waya was going to let the upper right end up mattering in this game.

Klak.

He'd been able to set up early on the left side of the board, and now with his play to 8-9 he'd begin to expand that territory into the center of the board. He had a good position there, so a counter invasion would be quite risky, and while his opponent held a small string of stones in the center that he couldn't kill they would ultimately fall short of their intended influence.

His time here had been put to good use, and while he couldn't expect any real significant leaps of improvement in such a short period of time, Waya was certainly able to feel a certain new strength when he flexed his Go muscles. Not that he'd be playing against Hikaru in the Kisei League anytime soon, or giving a hard push against Shirakawa in tournament play for that matter, but a foundation was beginning to appear. That was what he had to hope for, and use his experiences here to begin his proverbial snowball's descent down the mountainside.

Klak.

An atari at 15-12 as the response huh? Well, one thing he had noticed about some of these Chinese pros, they seemed much more willing to enter into ko battles than Japanese players, or at least they played them a lot more often. At least they kept the games interesting, although once he added the center area he was eyeing to his territory it wouldn't matter. Still, there was no need to rush things either; that was how he would get into trouble. The same was true of his progress and more importantly, of his expectations. To expect any significant changes overnight would only cause him more frustration, and it had been a mindset of that kind that had caused his recent rift with Hikaru to form. Granted when looking at Hikaru such a thing was easy to do, since Hikaru's progress at times seemed to come out of nowhere. There he'd be, resting at what appeared to be a specific level of strength, still improving of course but at a gradual pace that made one think he might have finally reached his limit when suddenly he'd skyrocket up. The result was something of a whiplash effect that left those around him wondering if they might have missed something, as if they had just been dawdling around and left standing still by comparison.

Such a reaction had inflicted Waya several months before, compounded by the apparent success of Ochi. It had caused him to push himself harder, but in the wrong way. He'd force his study of the board, determined to find the same hidden depths that Hikaru seemed to spot at a glance, struggling to create brilliance out of moves that were just plain bad in the end. The result had been an aggressive form of play that pushed the boundaries of the game but resulted in forced, and ultimately shallow readings of the board. It wasn't that he couldn't read the board as well as anyone else, but he'd reached for too much too quickly, and as such begun to doubt his instincts. Once that happened, he'd search in vain for the so-called 'better move' that his mind said must be there but he could not find. Then his opponent would make a good play that he didn't foresee and the paranoia would kick in, he'd get even more desperate to find the best move, and the momentum would swing away.

Klak.

Klak.

Klak.

That was one of the first things he'd begun to rediscover while studying here, that the best moves were never forced, and impatience was his enemy. The first couple of days had been brutal, his losses had piled up as had his frustration levels, especially since he didn't understand what was being said. It had been Yang Hai who had then suggested that he relax and not try so hard. That man had been a savior, and not just because he spoke Japanese. He had been trying so hard at first, taking each game seriously, trying to demonstrate how strong he could be to these players whom he could not understand, as the only language they shared was on the board. It had never occurred to him to just forget about winning and losing and to just play a game for fun.

Perhaps it was the environment of the pro world, so much was put into the concept of winning and advancing that wins and losses were equated as strength and growth. That was why he'd been so shocked when he won that game by 3 ½ points, even though he hadn't been trying to win all that hard. The funny thing was that Hikaru had pointed out to him the truth of the matter months ago and he hadn't been listening then; that the quality of a player's skill could not be determined by wins and losses. Of course Hikaru had left a few things out, but as Isumi had pointed at the end of the first week when Waya had brought this up to him, the rest was likely something that Waya had to discover for himself. Strength and quality were subjective entities, ambiguous concepts that altered depending on who was looking at them. Waya's strength was there, and apparent to those around and below him, but its presence alone did not make him strong, but rather how he chose to harness and focus it that determined his path. Strength could be tempered and honed, but in the end he had to master and wield it.

Morishita had spoken similarly, saying that regardless of how long it took him to reach a certain point compared to another, if it was within him to reach that point then he would do so. Just because Hikaru seemed to be rushing ahead at the speed of light didn't mean that Waya had to rush on at the same speed, or even needed to do so. That was why now, Waya was taking his time and thinking things through. His strength still remained with attacking and pushing influence with his stones, but now he was using his head more as he did so, and listening to his gut when the need arose. Territory, insight, confidence and ultimately victory, these would all come, and there was no need to rush on ahead beyond his current capacities. He just needed to harness his heart and mind, and bend them to his will.

Meanwhile several tables off Isumi glanced off in Waya's direction and caught the slightest hint of a smile cross his friend's face. Returning his eyes to his own board now, Isumi let a similar smile slide across his lips. The last week had shown a huge difference in Waya, and the other Chinese players had noticed. He was playing four or five games a day now, and several of the Chinese pros that had easily overpowered him the first time had inquired if there might even be a third, hidden Le Ping, this one far stronger in skill. This was likely due to their easy victories now being grueling, tight losses.

Though Waya certainly noticed his sudden stint of victories, even mixed in with the losses he still received, he wasn't aware of his apparent rise in strength. Granted his rise in strength actually was a questionable issue, since unlike the other players here, Isumi remembered the Waya from before who had known his strength as an insei and had pushed not to leap forward but rather to refine his game. Hikaru's arrival had caused the change, and ironically it was Hikaru who had allowed Waya to rediscover his old self. Isumi of course had been effected by it as well, as Hikaru's quiet ascension had seemed fun and intriguing all the way up until he'd reached and surpassed the two of them. While Waya had begun to feel like his progress was at a standstill, Isumi had begun to mentally doubt himself, the intrigue of Hikaru causing him to even misplay that stone in the Pro Exam. Isumi had since found himself again, pulled his mind away from the situation and found his calm, and while Waya's situation wasn't exactly the same, he had a hunch that he too was finally beyond the 'Hikaru Shindo Effect'.

"Something amusing Isumi?" the voice from across the board spoke softly, causing Isumi's eyes to lift.

Chuckling slightly, Isumi shook his head and answered, "Not really Yang Hai, I was just noticing that it appears that Waya is going to win again."

Glancing over himself now, Yang Hai scratched at the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, he does look like he's in a good mood. Maybe soon… wait… there, Tian just resigned. Not bad, going back to yesterday that's three straight."

Nodding, Isumi added, "Yes, and Tian Cheng 3 – Dan was one of those who had defeated Waya last week."

Laughing at that before placing a stone down at 12-14 capturing Isumi's stone, Yang Hai responded, "Yeah, that'll eat at him for awhile. Then again our jumbo-sized Le Ping isn't that bad of a player once he gets passed that thick head of his. Remind you of anyone else who visited here once?"

Placing his own stone off at 1-7 to reply to the capture with one of his own, Isumi answered, "Yes, but I've learned a lot since then, thanks in great part to you and everyone else here. I can see why so many players here are successful."

"Yeah well, you need to have talent first, something that I'm learning more and more as of late that Japan has."

As Yang Hai played the hane at 10-7, Isumi inquired, "You're referring to the Hokuto Cup?"

Yang Hai nodded. "Those three were quite impressive, Toya Meijin's son even beat Lu Lee, and that game Shindo had against Ko Yeong Ha… I was quite surprised."

Chuckling as he played another capture, this time at 1-9, securing his stones there, Isumi remarked with a grin, "Yes, Shindo can have that affect on people. You know he made it into the Kisei League, and has already been invited to play in the next Hokuto Cup."

Placing a stone in the lower right corner to strengthen that position for him, Yang Hai nodded once more. "Yeah, I heard about that. Bet there'll be a debate about who should play 1st Board this year huh? Last year Shindo's 1st Board appearance seemed outlandish, but in the end it turned out to be his inaugural into the spotlight, even if he lost. Sadly Lu Lee's turned nineteen so he won't be there this year. So, what do you think will happen, are we going to see a Shindo vs. Yeong Ha rematch, or will the other young star Akira Toya get a chance to show what he can do?"

Approaching Yang Hai's stone in the lower right with one of his own now, Isumi answered, "Well I know Shindo's quite determined to play Ko Yeong Ha again, or at least that's what Waya said. He saw him just before we left, and apparently Ko Yeong Ha's comments after he won the Ch'eonweon Title got him rather fired up."

"Bah, stupid little punk!" Placing his stone down harder than normal, Yang Hai continued, "The kid's just trying to show off, get a rise out of people. Did the same thing right before the Hokuto Cup, I guess he thinks it's amusing. Don't get me wrong, he's a brilliant player, but he's a punk who could use a little smackdown. Then again, if Shindo's letting that kid's words effect him I suppose he's not that much better."

"But Shindo isn't the one who's talking like that."

"Yeah, but he's letting it get to him. If no one paid him any mind, Yeong Ha wouldn't be talking like that. Hua Songli told me that he was saying similar stuff at the Samsung Cup, playing down his close call against Shindo. Probably got his cage a little rattled in that game if you ask me."

* * *

"So, you lost to Yang Hai by 3 ½ points huh?"

Taking a sip from his drink before answering, Isumi nodded. "Yeah, but it doesn't bother me that much. We were talking just as much as we were playing. It was actually rather relaxing after all the serious games I've been playing recently. Heck, even back at our hotel room I have to play you all the time too."

Frowning contemptuously, Waya shot back, "Hey, this is a serious trip, and just because I'm trying to ease up from the intense fervor I've been under doesn't mean I'm taking this easy. You need to be serious too, our Pro schedule's going to really pick up when we get back, heck unless we lose our Toyota prelim matches early we're going to have at least two matches a week for at least a month."

Taking a bite of his sandwich, Isumi answered, "I know, and I am being serious Waya. All I was saying was that it was a pleasant change of pace, you know, kind of like how you play a few online games the night before a big match to calm your nerves."

"Point taken."

Pausing a moment while watching Waya take a bite out of his own sandwich now, Isumi then said, "Yang Hai said after our game that Li-Sensei wanted to see us after lunch."

"What about?" Waya sputtered out between bites, not caring all that much about manners at the moment.

Shrugging, Isumi answered, "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out shortly."

A half-hour later the Japanese pair made their way back up from the first floor lunch room into the gaming room and glanced about for Li-Sensei, but there was no sign of him. Granted it was still a little early, the afternoon league matches wouldn't begin for another ten minutes or so, and the few number of Chinese pros present indicated as much. Stepping over to one of them, Isumi inquired on whether the headmaster had been up here yet, but got little information in return. None of the pros present had spotted him.

Returning to Waya, Isumi relayed his failed reconnaissance mission to his friend before the pair moved off toward one of the tables. Taking a seat and removing the Go bowls from the board, Waya looked up at Isumi and said, "While we wait, I'll replay my game from this morning against… whoever that was."

"Tian Cheng 3 – Dan was his name. I was talking to Zhao the other day and he mentioned that he was a new but rising star, although Yang Hai mentioned that he's not quite at the same level as Zhao or Wang Shi Chen."

"He looks like he's about as old as Ochi," Waya replied as he began placing the stones on the board. "think we might see him at the Hokuto Cup?"

Shrugging, Isumi answered, "I suppose it's possible. I got the impression that he was using the two of us to gauge what sort of competition he might get from Team Japan if he did make China's team, but I guess there are a few other players also trying to make it this year, especially some of the new younger players who want to make an international name for themselves and see the world a bit. Le Ping said he's going to be trying this year, as are Han Ming 2 – Dan, Zu Li 1 – Dan and Qian Lei."

Pausing a moment Waya then said, "Qian Lei, that name sounds familiar. Did I play him?"

Shaking his head, Isumi replied, "No, Qian Lei 2 – Dan was one of the players in that Chinese CCTV Cup match we were discussing the other night. And, it should be, 'did you play _her_'?"

Cocking an eyebrow at the last bit, Waya responded, "So I haven't played her yet huh. Hmm, you say she's a girl, which one was she in that game?"

"White, she beat Yang Jie 6 – Dan in that game."

Nodding slightly as his mind produced the memory of that game, Waya glanced around a moment and said, "Is she here today? I could play her in the league match."

Glancing around himself, Isumi answered, "I don't think so, she might be away playing a pro match. Of course I've never actually met her so I don't know if she's here or not."

"Well let's ask then," Waya suggested, "I'd love to play a potential Hokuto Cup member, it could be like a preview of the actual tournament."

Chuckling, Isumi commented back, "A Hokuto Cup preview, big talk from a person who hasn't even made it into the tournament yet. You know it's bad luck to say stuff like that."

Waya's lips opened to respond, but before he could do so a voice from behind him called out, "Ah, Isumi, Waya there you two are." Turning toward the sound of the voice as Isumi looked beyond him, Waya spotted Li, the headmaster of this building/dorm heading toward them at a quick pace. As he got to them he continued with a smile, "Ah, replaying a game while waiting for the league to start I see. Why don't you push that aside for a moment, since Waya there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Motioning at someone behind him to come forward, Waya gazed at the tall thin Chinese person smiling at him. He couldn't have been much older than Isumi. A brief moment passed in silence, then Li said to the younger player next to him, "This is Yoshitaka Waya 3 – Dan, the boy who came to study here from Japan with Isumi that I told you about. Waya, I'd like you to meet Wang Xin, he decided to stop by today since he has a day off."

It had taken all of Waya's will to keep his jaw from dropping upon hearing the player's name. "Umm, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Wang bowed his head and said, "Thank you, I am honored to meet you too." While Isumi had mentioned that players like Wang did come here from time to time, he'd actually forgotten since in the two weeks they'd been here he hadn't seen one, or at least not while knowing whom they were. Faces, especially those he'd only seen occasionally in newspapers and magazines Waya had a hard time remembering, but names, especially ones like this, were as easy to remember as the games he'd played. His eyes scanning up and down, Waya took in the player before him. So this was Wang Xin 9 – Dan, China's best Go player. Given his age, it was actually rather hard to believe, but players like Hikaru, Akira, Ko Yeong Ha and such told him it was certainly possible.

As any words that might come to him laid hidden in the back of his mind, Waya just stared back until Wang said, "So, replaying a game are you. One of your games?"

As the question entered his brain, a second thought along with the answer came to Waya; Wang Xin was speaking Japanese, pretty well in fact. Sending up a small prayer silently for such a favor, Waya answered, "Uhh yes, it's my game from this morning against… who was it Isumi?"

"Tian Cheng 3 – Dan." Isumi provided.

Nodding in recognition, Wang stated, "Ahh yes, I've played Tian before, very promising player, he has a good sense of the game. Which one are you here?"

"I'm black."

"Really," Wang said, an impressed sound in his voice, "well you've only replayed about half the game so far, but from what I can tell you're doing quite well. How'd it end?"

"I won by resignation."

Nodding silently as his eyes scanned over the stones, taking in the positions and guessing at the order they were played, Wang then lifted his eyes from the board and said, "Would you like to play a game? I have some time now."

A bolt of electricity shot up Waya's spine as he slowly nodded his head. He was going to get the chance to play a game against the best player in China; this was an honor not to mention and opportunity that he simply couldn't pass up. As he began to clear off the board while Isumi rose from his seat to allow Wang to take his place, Waya began to feel the anticipation of the moment flowing through him… or was it fear?

Reaching for one of the Go bowls as Wang took the other, Waya reached into the open top and removed a small handful of white stones in his right hand. Hovering them just over the board for a moment as he waited for his opponent to bring his guess over the board as well, Waya felt the beginnings of sweat forming on his brow. This type of opponent was far beyond the level of those he'd played here so far, even if he had played some of the stronger players that still lived in this building over the last few weeks. It wasn't the type of match that he would recently have envisioned happening to him, such a clash would have seemed more appropriate for Hikaru. At that thought Waya paused a moment even as his hand released the stones onto the board. Hikaru, he wouldn't let the thought of facing such an opponent cloud his mind, he'd revel in the challenge. Waya might not have been Hikaru, but if he wanted to join him in the Hokuto Cup and beyond then he had to yearn for such a match just as much.

Eight, ten, twelve, thirteen stones; Wang had placed a single black stone, so Waya would be white. Moving the white stones back to their bowl, Waya inhaled deeply, trying his best to clear his thoughts of any distractions; it was time to play.

Klak.

The 16-4 star point, quite the common move. Then again, there was a reason it was so common, it was very strong. Reaching for a stone, Waya placed it down on the 4-4 star point, a move that was answered a few moments later with a play at 17-16 by Wang. While not the most common variation, as the standard maneuver often called for a play at 16-16, Wang's move was still an interesting variation, and a far cry from unheard of in Go.

Klak.

Waya's stone came down firmly at 4-17; a common reply to this particular variation that had been played over the years. It was a truth that in the end a lot of positions early on had been set up for years, each variation having multiple routes explored as to how to play them out. This is what made judging a player's skill difficult until the tenth move or so, as it was easy up to that point to follow a certain set of fuseki, as he was now with Wang. It wasn't until the play reached an unexpected move that skill truly took over; the point in which that occurred being as varied as the moves on the board. For instance the standard response here would be for Black to play along the sides of the right side of the board, setting up his moyo before either engaging or being engaged. So what would Wang, China's best, choose to play?

Klak.

Waya blinked, then smirked slightly. The 3-6 point, a knight's move. So he was forsaking fuseki and beginning the battle already, quite the gutsy play, but certainly fun.

Klak.

Answering with a pincer at 4-8, Waya leaned back in his seat and waited to see how the battle would play out.

Klak. Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak. Klak.

As the game moved on, standing off to one side Isumi watched on. Next to him stood Li, the pair admiring and scrutinizing in their minds with each play. Waya was responding well so far to Wang's attack on the left side of the board, although Isumi had a feeling that Wang was allowing it to some degree. While Waya had shown greater skill and patience in reading the board, being able to see something coming didn't always mean it could be stopped. After all so much of this game was about tempo, who held sente at what times. Then there was the pressure to consider, especially since Waya was aware of whom he was playing.

Certainly the best idea would be to ignore the person or rank and to just play the board, but realistically it wasn't so easy. Sure Isumi could pull himself away from the game, look upon it objectively as a third party, but it was not possible to truly remove oneself completely, especially when the player is aware of the gap between himself and his opponent. That had been Waya's strength and weakness when he'd played Hikaru back in November, he'd gone in believing that he was just as good as Hikaru. It meant that he was able to play his moves confidently, assured in his own strength in his ability to prevail. On the other hand it caused him to try and force proof of that equality, to demonstrate that he could be just as brilliant and clever as Hikaru, that he could read and not fall for the traps that would appear within the game. It was through that mindset that he'd pushed Hikaru as he did, and eventually, fallen too short against Hikaru's strategy.

This game was different however. Waya was aware that his opponent was likely stronger than he was at the moment, but instead of panicking and searching to force a position to his advantage, he was thinking things through more and playing his game. This was a test for Waya, to see just how far he had come and how far he needed to go; a way to discover for himself just how well he could play with someone of Wang Xin's skill. And it was that very thing, skill, that would ultimately decide this match, but so far at least Waya was not overestimating what he could and could not do.

Turning to Li, a thought occurred to Isumi and he inquired softly in Chinese so as not to disrupt Waya, "Li-sensei, Waya and I had been talking about the Hokuto Cup just now, and he was wondering if Qian Lei might be available to play a game? We had heard she might be a candidate to play in it this year."

Nodding, Li answered back, "Yes, Qian is a candidate from what I understand, but she's off at a pro match for the weekend. I believe she'll be back Monday though, so if Waya would like to wait until then, I'm sure Qian would be quite happy to play him in a game."

"Thank you Sensei."

"Hmm, it looks like your friend is doing fairly well, or at least better than I had expected."

"Yes, he's very determined right now."

Nodding as he looked down on the game, Li remained silent. Yang Hai had returned from the Hokuto Cup last year praising the strength he had seen from the younger players of Japan, and while this Waya was not Hikaru Shindo, Akira Toya, or Yashiro Kiyoharu, he was still demonstrating that Japan's future might very well be more than just a three man show.

Frowning at the board as he played his stone, Waya held back a scowl. He had been able to hold off Wang from invading the left side of the board, and as a result he now controlled the entire left side of the board, but in the process Wang had been able to position his stones to block off Waya's expansion to the center of the board.

That left him only two possibilities, to either invade and overtake a good portion of the right side of the board, or to try and outflank the center and turn what was now potential territory into a long live group with little territorial gain. Both would be difficult given the skill of his opponent and current positioning of the board, but if he played it right he might be able to use the invasion to set up the flanking of the center of the board.

Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Wang was not going away, and what was worse was that he was actually using his defense against the invasion to expand toward the middle of the board. His invasion had not been deep enough, but then any deeper and he would have likely found himself cut off. Attacking was one of the trickiest parts of Go, especially once a player reached the higher levels. Just as invasion skills increased so too did defensive counterattacks and tactics. Often it came down to the early strategies one employed, creating positions that didn't really come into major play for another hundred moves. The problem with planning against such strategies is that there was no guarantee as to where the battle would ultimately go and become advantageous for one player or another. That was where a player's mid-game skills came into play, the ability to force a game to fit the early strategy that had been outlined.

Wang Xin's mid-game skills were exquisite, and Waya could already see the end of this particular tunnel, and there was no light at the end of it. In the end Waya had managed to force his way into the center, but not to the degree he had needed. Not only that, but his push had allowed Wang to secure his position on the right side and in a few more moves, a good chunk of the upper and central parts of the board. There were still a few things he could try, but in the end it wouldn't make any real difference. He'd lost the center and would need to spend the next few moves securing his lower left flank lest he invite an invasion from Wang. The problem was that he couldn't do that or else the last bits of the center would be lost, but if he didn't the game would be lost anyway. That meant there was only one thing left to do.

Lowering his head somberly, Waya took a deep breath and then said, "I resign."

Nodding back to him with a smile, Wang replied, "Thank you, it was a good game. You are a very strong player Waya, and you will get even stronger I'm sure. Now, would you like to discuss the game?"

* * *

Author's Notes:

And the chapter is over. Sorry for the delay everyone, but I had to go out of town for a few days, have been working hard, got into a car accident, and had to help my brother move into his new house, build a shed in his backyard, and help paint the house (not all in that order). This might have gotten out two days ago but I was dead tired after getting a replacement fender and headlight at the local scrapyard for my car. Let me say that taking a fender off a car without power tools is a long, exhaustive process. Anyway the important thing is that I have the chapter done now, and will be trying to get the rest done soon so we can get back to the main story.

This chapter is also far longer than my average side story chapters, but I think it's due to my trying to cram so much into only four chapters. There is a lot of stuff that needs to happen before I finish this side story, including introducing some characters, and so events drag out some. A lot of course is going on with Waya too, as he's begun to have some epiphanies about his own play, and while his match against Wang Xin might have lacked some of the intensity seen in other matches I've done, let's not forget that there really wasn't all that much on the line either.

There were three games depicted in this chapter, the first was Waya's game against Tian Cheng 3 – Dan (note that while I have reversed the Japanese names to English so that first names are first, I left the Chinese and Korean names as is, so Tian is his surname). This match was based off the 3rd Toyota Cup Round 1 match between Cho U 9 – Dan and Zhou Heyang 9 – Dan on 08-26-2006. Isumi's game against Yang Hai was from the 19th Chinese CCTV Cup. Round 4 match between Chen Yaoye 5 – Dan and Tuo Jiaxe 3 – Dan on 04-17-2007 (note that the actual victory was by 1 ½ points, but the komi was 7 ½ so I fixed it for a 5 ½ komi instead). Finally Waya's match against Wang Xin was based on the 8th Japan-China Agon Cup match between Liu Xing 7 – Dan and Cho U 9 – Dan on 12-12-2006.

Now for your questions. Do I speak Mandarin? Yes… and no. You see when I was taking my anthropology courses in college, I had a professor who spoke fluent Mandarin as he had done archaeological work there before. Now while I do speak several languages, Mandarin wasn't one of them, but having seen Ranma ½ before I knew a few words thanks to Shampoo, such as Nihao (hello), wo ai ni (I love you) and so on. Thus I'd come into class and say nihao to my professor every day and he'd answer in kind. A little ways into the semester I started inquiring about other words, and over the course of that semester and the next (I had him again) he'd teach me a few different pieces of chitchat and such, enough to where I could greet someone, have a small conversation with them, and answer a few basic questions (I like languages). I thus know enough Mandarin to where I could survive in China just long enough to find someone who spoke one of the other languages I know more completely (not counting Mandarin I speak 4 languages). However, while I can speak Mandarin (likely with a bad accent, despite what our Chinese exchange student said) I cannot read or write in it. Granted, I know it's kanji, but the pronunciation is different and as I've stated previously, I really hate kanji. This is also why I chose not to write the Chinese players comments in Chinese, as while I can romanize the words, what I could have them say would be too limited. And Cantonese… I don't know at all, although I think my professor did.

Note: Waya's comment on black's play at 17-16 being interesting, despite 16-16 being more common is made more intriguing when you consider that while the latter is more common, Black wins about 48.7 percent of the time in those games while Black wins 53.5 percent of the time when playing the former. Bear in mind that these specific numbers come from my own collection of pro games, about 3,500 or so of them. Wang's knight's move at 3-6 is unusual in that out of those 3,500 games I have, the sequence of moves up to that move only occurs twice.

Next we'll be heading back to Japan briefly for the one shot story of Sato's Shinshodan match against Kuwabara Honinbo, then back here to finish up this side story. At that time we will see the match between Qian Lei and Waya. As before, I will be thanking all my reviewers next chapter, so anyone who'd like to be mentioned should send in a review for this story if you haven't yet. Thanks.


	4. Glimpsing into the Beyond

Traveling a Chinese Road: Chapter 4 – Glimpsing into the Beyond

By Leitbur

This chapter takes place after Chapter 53 of The Never-Ending Road and after New Star Rising.

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Truly, it was refreshing to be back home. Reaching for the shower nozzle and twisting it until the water from the showerhead ceased, Qian Lei inhaled deeply, holding the moist air in for a moment, then exhaled. A shower in the morning, it was certainly one way to wake herself up, although several others had suggested that caffeine was a more efficient way to do so. Still, while it might have been the way others woke up, Qian had never found much use for it, preferring her own methods. After all, following her own routine had gotten her this far, so there seemed little reason to change now.

Sliding the curtain back, a slight shiver running through her as the cold air hit her, Qian reached for the towel rack and pulled one of the towels she kept there off, wiping away the clinging drops of water on her skin. She'd had two matches last week, both taking place outside of Beijing, the first being a grueling rank promotion match , followed up a few days later with her 1st Round victory in the Female Xinren Wang on Saturday. Later on this week she'd have her 1st Round match in the open Xinren Wang, not that the woman's only tournament was lacking. However, before all that there were other things she'd need to do, this morning included.

Wiping her legs and feet down before stepping out of the shower, Qian tied the towel around herself and reached for a second towel. With it she then began to dry off her hair, an arduous task even on the best of days. At times she even considered cutting her hair short to avoid the hassle of washing and brushing it so much, but then she always remembered how much she enjoyed how her long hair, hanging just below her shoulders, looked. Besides, the work she needed to put into her hair was a nice little reminder, the fact that if the biggest problem she had was taking care of her hair, then her career, and likely her life in general, was going well.

Finishing with the towel and hanging it back up on the rack, Qian made her way into her room and sat on her bed, sidestepping a few piles on the floor as she did so and grabbing the hair brush on the stand. Glancing about her room, the young pro frowned and sighed. She'd begun to let her room go again, allowed herself to become lax and sloppy. The decision to clean up had been getting delayed as of late, the next morning became that evening, then the evening had to wait because she had to leave the next morning for a match and needed her rest, and then it became when she got back and so on. Things came up more and more lately, and as a result little details like keeping her room tidy would get pushed aside. Well, she'd clean up this evening for sure.

Being a professional Go player had been far more difficult so far than she'd ever imagined, perhaps even more due to her sex. While it was certainly true that times were changing for women in China, throughout all of Asia in fact, there was still a long way to go before old traditions vanished completely.

Her younger sister hadn't understood the strange position she was in when she tried to explain it during a trip back home, free as she was in some ways from certain expectations and pressures that her sex experienced. In other ways however her professional status put her under even more pressure as both a Go player and as a woman. Of course, her sister was only ten years old, eleven in March, and was under enough pressure and expectations herself to likely see Qian's troubles as desirable by comparison. What made it worse was that it was both Qian and her sister's fault, yet at the same time they were faultless as it was never in their power to control from the start. Her sister blamed herself, something Qian had tried to correct, as the true culprits were the Planned Birth Policy and a tradition that valued male children over female children.

The one birth policy was a controversial topic, and many couples, her parents included, had been able to acquire special permission in their province to have a second child since their first, Qian, had not been male. It had not been meant to be however, something her sister was subtly reminded of quite often. Thus now the pressure had arisen for her sister to grow up to be the proper young woman that society thought she should be. Qian had been given no such pressure growing up as this outlook of her parents had appeared only after her sister's birth, and a short time after that Qian had begun to learn Go, and been recognized as having talent at it, something her sister lacked.

Go was quite popular in China, and had been for quite some time now. Her parents had thus seen her talent as something to be proud of, a source of honor to have such a talent in the family. Likewise as she gained strength and rose in rank and notoriety as a pro, more and more people would take notice of her and want to see Qian Lei the pro player and Qian Lei the woman. Feminists pointed to her and other women in Go as examples, wanting to use her success to strengthen their agendas, while others pushed her to be more feminine, and to succeed.

All of this was pressure she frankly could have gone without, but it was a consequence of her birth. Not everyone thought this way of course, including many of the younger pros, but it was still a fact in society that she could not expect to change, nor could she completely ignore it either, as it was truly everywhere she went; and to think she was only sixteen.

That was why it was truly good to be back here again, amongst her fellow pros and friends, studying and training in preparation for the next step forward, whenever that step might come. Here the pressure from home to do well and succeed felt like a distant dream at the edge of her consciousness, an emotion without complete substance, and removed from the public she could be herself again. Granted it wasn't like being a professional athlete or movie star, Go players weren't exactly rock stars, although for some like Ko Yeong Ha, Wang Xin, and other top young stars that was not entirely true, but it was still something popular enough to warrant attention and fans of all sorts. Yang Hai had apparently even found a pair of websites devoted to Qian, one by a group of young women from her hometown who saw her as a hero, and another that… well, as Yang Hai had described it, was not centered on her skill as a Go player.

Finishing with her hair, Qian set down her brush and stood up, untying the towel around her and stretching her neck back and forth a few times. Despite having gotten back rather late in the evening last night, she felt well rested and energized to play today, even if it was only practice. Besides, after talking briefly with one of the other pros last night, she was now aware of the 'arranged match' for her today.

Moving off to get dressed now, Qian's head began to swim with what little she knew of Japanese players. Certainly she'd heard of Toya Meijin, even seen him play a match in the China League once, as well as some of their other top players like Ogata and Kurata, even a few references to Toya's son… whatever his name was, and another boy, Shin… well there was another boy. This Waya though, she'd never heard of him before, that she was certain. She'd known that he and Isumi had been studying here for the last couple of weeks of course, they were the talk of the building, but Qian had steered clear thus far. She'd just been so busy, the idea of really checking them out had never really seemed relevant.

Now though she had been called out, challenged to play. From what she'd been told, Waya, like herself, was aiming to compete in this year's Hokuto Cup, making this a good opportunity to see the level of competition she might have to face in the actual tournament. The fact that he'd defeated Tian Cheng 3 – Dan last week only made it more intriguing, since Tian was likely her biggest competition for the last spot, some would even argue that he was the odds on favorite right now.

More importantly to Qian however is the way that Waya might look upon her. Would he see a young woman as his opponent, or a Go player? While she knew that such a thing seemed absurd to many, for Qian her greatest desire was to be seen not for the physical characteristics that defined her as a member of her sex, but rather who she was on the board. That was one of the things she loved about Go, the board lacked any concept of gender. The stones stared back equally at man and woman alike, remove the names from the game record and the moves existed by themselves, defined by the strength and skill they were played with, not by who played them. Her fellow pros here would play her as such, looking only at the stones, but this Waya, she didn't know yet what she might expect from him.

Sliding on a pair of pants and fastening them firmly, Qian glanced around the room trying to remember where she'd set her recently washed blouses. Then again, perhaps a T-shirt would do, given how informal everyone around here was. Taking a deep breath and exhaling once more, the young pro began to align herself mentally, physically, and spiritually for the battle ahead. She had so far to go in so many ways, in Go and in life, but a good way to start was to be holistically balanced. As for Waya, well she'd find out about him soon enough.

-------------------------------------------

"So, any idea when she's going to be here?" Waya inquired with a slight tone of irritation in his voice as he leaned against a wall, his eyes darting from the clock to the door and back at increasingly more rapid intervals.

Sighing heavily from his seat a few feet away, Isumi replied, "I told you already, I don't even know what she looks like, let alone when she'll be coming down. Heck, she just got in last night, maybe she's sleeping in and won't be coming down."

" If you're wondering when Qian Lei is coming, she'll be down soon, " a voice off to Isumi's right said. Turning toward the voice, Isumi spotted a Chinese pro walking toward them.

Cocking an eyebrow, Isumi replied, " Zhang Jie, are you sure? It's already almost eight o'clock. "

Chuckling, Zhang replied, " Yes I'm sure, I saw her last night when she got back and mentioned your friend's request to her. She seemed interested then, so I'd expect her to be down. She's probably just taking a little extra time getting ready, she takes challenges very seriously. "

"Man this sucks, I hope she comes down before lunchtime." Waya commented, completely oblivious to the contents of the conversation taking place next to him. "Isumi, can you find out if anyone here knows when she's coming?"

"Zhang here just told me she'll be down soon, and that she's looking forward to playing you."

A glint flashing in his eye, Waya grinned. "Really, well then I'm looking forward to this match too. Hokuto Cup preview!"

" Pretty noisy for this time of the morning isn't it? "

Turning at the noise in the doorway, Waya spotted a young woman with long midnight black hair standing a few steps beyond the entrance, staring in his direction. Her eyes swept over the part of the room that Waya, Isumi, and Zhang were in casually, although Waya could have sworn he saw her eyes do a slight double take as they passed him. Was this… his opponent?

Turning her head toward Zhang, the woman then said, " Zhang, are these the two from Japan? Which one is Waya, the tall cute one or the loud oversized Lei Ping? "

Hesitating for a moment as he'd been caught slightly off guard, Zhang pointed his finger and replied, " Umm, that one's Waya. "

Returning her gaze to Waya now, Qian began to look him over. So this was Waya, the one who looked just like Le Ping. She'd heard that one of the two players from Japan looked like Le Ping, although she hadn't known which. From the sound of it when she had entered, he might be just as much of a loudmouthed brat as Le Ping was too, although she had to admit that she had no idea what it was that he'd been saying. Strangely, even though he was an oversized Le Ping, she'd expected her challenger to be… taller.

Waya meanwhile had come to the conclusion, after hearing his name several times, that this must be Qian Lei 2 – Dan. She couldn't have been much older than Hikaru or Ochi from the look of it, surprising since given some of the younger prodigies he'd met while here, he'd half expected her to be Zhao or Le Ping's age, or at least younger than she was. Still, she was one of China's elite, he'd best not underestimate her. Bowing, Waya said, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to our match."

Eyeing him for a moment, Qian gave a slight bow of her own and moved toward one of the open tables, motioning with a smile for Waya to follow. Frowning, Waya complied, rather upset that she'd seemed so… well rude by not replying to his greeting. Sure she might not have understood what he said, but she could have at least given him a real bow in return.

Taking her seat Qian reached for the bowl nearest her and sighed inwardly. The Japanese, they bowed at anything and everything. Perhaps it was a bit wrong of her to have failed to reply, but they were in China, and bowing wasn't exactly an everyday thing here anymore.

As the pair removed the lids to their bowls and prepared to nigiri, Isumi watched on tensely. Turning to Zhang who was moving over to watch as well, Isumi asked, " So, does Qian speak Japanese at all? "

Shaking his head, Zhang replied, " No, most pros who learn Japanese do so out of plans to participate in international tournaments, but that's over many years. Qian only recently became interested in the Hokuto Cup, so I believe she hasn't begun to learn. "

Frowning, Isumi returned his eyes to the board as the pair determined that Qian would play first. Well, that explained her lack of reply to Waya, she hadn't understood what he'd said. Perhaps her lack of Japanese would be good though, after all without anything to say to one another Waya would be able to focus on the board.

" Hey, Qian Lei is playing Waya! "

" It's a Hokuto Cup preview match! "

" What, Hokuto Cup preview? "

Glancing about as others began to flock to the table to watch as well, Isumi felt his stomach sink. On the other hand, if Waya allowed all the chatter that he couldn't understand get to him, this could be a very embarrassing game. How would he handle this new added pressure; after all while he'd been trying to play with a free, fun mindset, taking a game for what it was and not getting frustrated by the situation, this game was different. Both players, and everyone else here seemed to be viewing this as a preview, a harbinger match even, to what might be seen in the Hokuto Cup in four months. In a way it was like watching Hikaru play Hon Suyon all over again, both players desperately wanting to win, except this time it was China vs. Japan.

Klak.

The 16-4 star point, that was Qian's opening, standard in today's game.

Klak.

Cocking an eyebrow, Isumi continued to watch on. The 4-3 point, interesting play, very interesting. Qian's response a moment at 17-16 suggested that she too was intrigued by Waya's play, as she was apparently shifting her strategy to better match his. Waya's 4-17 reply was similarly off, but nevertheless intriguing. Immediately Qian shot back with high approach at 4-5, attacking Waya's stone.

As Waya countered at 3-5, followed by Qian's playing hane at 3-6, the number of spectators continued to grow. The fact that there had been three or four days for news of this match and it's potential significance to spread around, it wasn't surprising to see so many people showing up, even if Isumi felt everyone might have been overestimating this match a bit. After all, this wasn't really a preview of the Hokuto Cup, there wasn't even any guarantee that either player would make it into the tournament. From what Yang Hai had told him yesterday, Tian Cheng was seen as the frontrunner here, and back home most people were expecting to see a return of last year's team, Akira, Hikaru, and Yashiro.

This match was a glimpse into the beyond, a look at a possible future that was still very far off from becoming a reality. Both players certainly wanted it badly, but Isumi had to admit that he was a little worried for Waya. How would he take it if he lost here, or failed to make it into the Hokuto Cup? Sure he was turning over a new leaf, returning to the Waya of old that Isumi remembered, but adversity was the true test for a person, and how he would respond to that ultimately would be what defined him. Of course it was possible that adversity wouldn't come right away, that he'd win today and return home to many more victories, but sooner or later adversity would show itself, just as it had not so long ago in the form of Hikaru Shindo.

Klak.

The game was heating up quickly, a short joseki in the upper left had been followed up with Qian invading the lower left and only partially succeeding. Waya had then taken the switch in sente to launch an invasion of his own, and the pair were now battling their way up the right side of the board. In fact, if they kept it up soon they'd…

Klak.

There it was, the battle had carried its way up into the upper right corner now. Waya's knight's move was a nice low approach, and the wall he'd set up behind it gave it strong support. A direct attack against that stone would be difficult.

Klak.

There was a pause as silence hit the crowd, allowing Isumi to make out the voices of several pros who'd set up a replay of the match off at another table, getting periodic updates every few moves. That move, it was unexpected, not uncommon, but given the battle thus far, unexpected.

Then a slight chuckle escaped Waya's lips, vanishing a moment later. Glancing up at his opponent with a grin, Waya stared down Qian for a moment before reaching for his stone. She was playing for influence, preparing to set up to control the lines of the board and to keep his group isolated. In return she was all but sacrificing the upper right corner, leaving a clear path in through the back door. He'd have to be careful, but if he was lucky he might even be able to set up to grab the entire upper edge of the board.

Placing the stone down at 18-4, Waya began playing out the possible outcomes, but was soon answered with an attachment at 18-3, answered with a hane at 17-3 a moment later. A move like that wouldn't be enough against him, not today.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Klak.

Nodding his head slightly as he watched Qian tenuki away, Isumi felt the tension in the air rising, and his own blood began to pump as well. Waya had done it, he'd secured his position and could later project out to take the upper edge, but it had come at a price. Qian's 18-3 stone had been a sacrifice, surrendered to allow Qian to put a thick barricade into the corner. Waya could make territory, even move along the upper edge, but that group of stones just wedged into the corner well, siphoning off any chance to wrap around onto the right side. A nice exchange, although as far as Isumi was concerned it had benefited Waya far more, and he was now in the lead.

Move after move came down, the battle shifting back to the lower left, the tempo of the match shifting slightly. Before it had been fuseki, the early stage of the battle, but now the middle game had begun, and the close in fighting was intense. The way they were scraping at one another, it was obvious just how strong both were at this sort of thing. No territory felt safe, but what was really strange was that Waya was not playing it safe, in fact neither player was.

Normally when a player gained an early advantage, they could sit back and play defensively to hold on. While it was true that Waya's lead was small, and still somewhat suspect, the zeal with which he played his stones was impressive. In a way it was like the Waya from his match against Hikaru, aggressive to the point of near recklessness, and while at first glance it had worried Isumi that Waya had slipped back to that style of play, he was still riding on the razor's edge between reckless forcing of the game and calm collection. So this was the new Waya, a truly fearsome beast, and from what Isumi could tell, he was reading the board quite well, although some of his moves seemed to be daring his opponent to try something, as if Waya was trying to pick a fight within this fierce exchange.

Klak.

Isumi gasped. He'd played his stone into a tiger's mouth, it was silly. After all, there was a reason it was called a tiger's mouth, because playing into it was suicide. A moment passed however, helped by Qian's pause at the play, and then Isumi saw what was happening; Waya was challenging her to a ko battle, to duke it out for control of that group instead of compromising. Now the only question was, how would Qian answer.

Klak.

She'd captured, well that was to be expected, Waya's next move was the one that would set up the chance to battle it out or not. In fact, Waya's likely next play had an extra bonus in that it'd form a potential eye that he could use to save the group if she refused to engage.

Klak. Klak.

She'd refused to engage, filling the space instead. It was quite intriguing, particularly given how cutthroat both had been to this point. In many ways though it was likely the right call, since the potential gain was rather small for her in that battle. So unless forced, Qian would only engage Waya on her own terms it seemed. This was getting good, and they weren't even halfway through yet.

Klak. Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak. Klak.

Frowning as she placed her next stone, Qian scanned the board with her eyes, searching for the proper place to engage. The problem was that Waya was enjoying sente right now, and doing a good job of pushing her to respond. She'd been able to shrink his lead with her successful capture of the lower left corner in their last exchange, but already the center was beginning to implode on itself. The likely result was that little real territory would come out of it unless she could find a way to capture a floating group. Unfortunately Waya wasn't leaving much behind, he was securing and attacking her position at the same time.

She needed an opening, just a chink in his offense, and she could still make up the difference. What was truly frustrating was all of the little provocation moves Waya was playing, goading her to engage him. In fact, a good part of her wanted to do so, to dive in and rip him apart, but that would just play into the current position. It was time to be patient, an opening would come, as long as she spotted it when it did.

Klak. Klak.

It was strange, she'd heard that Japan was below China and Korea in talent and strength, and while it was true that genuine talent could arise anywhere, she had not really expected Waya to push her this hard. Not that she wasn't up for the fight, in fact in many ways she welcomed it. All she needed was one mistake, a misplay or a soft placement on Waya's part, and then… THERE!

Klak.

An audible gasp erupted from the crowd as Qian's stone hit the board, followed by a low murmur as one of the pros scampered from the group to report the result to one of the tables replaying the game. As he did so, Isumi's eyes lifted from the Go board and scanned the crowd. No one noticed him, all eyes were on the board, strained as sweat slid down a few of the onlooker's faces. So many were here now, Liu, Li-sensei, and even Zhao and Le Ping had finished squeezing through the crowd to get a front row seat. Off to his right stood Tian Cheng, his eyes seemingly even more intense as he observed the game, nibbling at his thumb as he watch. Despite Isumi's earlier concerns though about how easily this game could have taken a turn for the worst, it had actually lived up to much of the hype that had existed coming into it.

Qian's last move though, Isumi knew by Waya's reaction that his friend recognized what it meant. He'd slipped ever so slightly, and while that stone of Qian's could, and had to be removed, it was going to take a lot of work, and moves, to accomplish. The problem was that if he put all his effort into killing it Qian would expand out her stones and take the game easily, so he'd have to take the stone and counter her plays on the board at the same time. Adversity had just thrown a jab at Waya's head, so now it was time to see how Waya would respond.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Klak. Klak.

Wiping a drop of sweat from his face, Waya placed his fist to his lip and scanned over the board before making his next move. Qian had added a trio of stones to her first, with interim plays across the board, and while Waya had just about eliminated that threat, Qian had been busy. She'd found a tricky play that had allowed her to bring life to a group Waya had written off as dead, and while he'd shored it up and countered well, the survival of that group was big, as it ate up what he'd previously seen as his territory. The life of that group meant that his lead had shrunk to next to nothing, in fact it was likely no bigger than a point or two.

Still, he'd stabilized the board position, which meant that from now on, it was all about who had the better endgame. Lifting his eyes for a moment to admire his opponent and her plucky stubbornness, Waya returned his gaze to the board. It was strange, especially given the situation, the tension in the air, the neck and neck, do or die battle on the board, all of it. Perhaps this was what Hikaru had spoken of before, the sensation that arrived when limits were pushed, the exotic taste of a high level match. Despite everything on the board before him and occurring all around, Waya couldn't help but smile; he hadn't played a match this fun in a long time.

Inhaling and exhaling, Isumi watched on, his eyes glued to the board. The moves now, they were desperate in their aggressiveness. The endgame was about expanding and shrinking territory, a point gained here, shaved away there. That aspect wasn't changing, what was however was the tension that occurred with each play. It was like watching fireworks, an 'ooh' and 'ahh' with every play, a build up for the finale.

It was hard to tell who was up on whom now, although it looked like Waya was hanging on by half a point or so. A stone later and he was down by a point, the next up a point again. It was back and forth, a slugfest occurring between the stones. This was going to be close.

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"You have everything packed up Waya?"

Turning his head toward the hotel bathroom, Waya called back, "Yeah, just about. All that's left is the Go board, then we can head for the airport."

"Well hurry it up," Isumi called back, "I don't want to miss our flight, not when we both have our Toyota Cup preliminaries tomorrow."

Rolling his eyes, Waya shot back, "Yeah right, you just want to see Chi-chan again, right _Shin-chan_?"

"I'm serious Waya!"

"Yeah yeah, I know." Turning his eyes back to the board in front of him and the stones placed on it, Waya exhaled heavily. It had been an amazing match; even replaying it on the board caused his body to tremble in excitement. It was a game he couldn't wait to get back to Japan with to show the others, to hear their thoughts on it.

Clearing off the stones into their proper bowls, Waya then proceeded to dump the stones from the bowls into plastic bags for storage. Sealing them up, he reached over and slid his suitcase over, placing the bags with the stones down in a small spot he'd left open for them, followed by the bowls themselves. Next he placed the board itself in, and closed the suitcase shut. That was it, time to head home.

Stepping out of the bathroom now, Isumi glanced at Waya and said, "Ready?"

Nodding to his friend, Waya stood up and reached for the rest of his bags. "Yep, good to go."

"Ok then," Isumi replied as he walked across the room and zipped up the last of his bags, "let's go."

As they made their way into the elevator Waya said, "You know Isumi, we should come back sometime."

Nodding with a smile as the elevator doors closed, Isumi replied, "Yeah, but let's think about that later. We have enough waiting for us in Japan as it is."

Nodding, Waya watched the numbers of the elevator as they slowly changed. "You know Isumi, I really hope Qian Lei makes it into the Hokuto Cup, it'd be great to play her again."

Chuckling at that, Isumi replied, "Looking for a rematch already?"

"Well yeah," Waya retorted with a grin, "in an incredible, back and forth, in your face battle like that, losing by a point and a half is a hard thing for me to swallow. It's not just that though, that game… it was really fun."

Cocking an eyebrow, Isumi inquired, "Fun?"

"Yeah," Waya replied, a smile sliding across his face at just the thought of it all, "fun. To play a game like that again… I'll make it into the Hokuto Cup. Definitely."

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Author's Notes:

And so we draw this side story to a close. Sorry it took so long, but I've been quite busy lately. Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter and the story as a whole, and if not don't worry, we're heading back to the main story presently. The chapter was actually rather difficult to write since as the climatic battle I wanted it to be memorable, and at the same time it was doing a lot of introduction and character development as well.

On the character of Qian Lei, I did not originally intend for the first scene where we are introduced to her to run as long, or as in depth, as it ultimately did. In fact the character herself was created on the fly last chapter when I decided to have Isumi name off some contenders to play in the Hokuto Cup. While doing that I thought, "Hmmm, this Qian Li, since I'm making him stand out a little, why not make him a female player." Thus Qian Li became Qian Lei and I started to run with the concept. One week later, without much active thought I might add, she's fleshed out and has a strong personality. Basically I think I just created an image of her in my head and let it run from there. Possibly this is why I start out the scene as I did, to mirror my thoughts to paper as we start out with getting something of a physical description with her hair and from there we move into who she is. Strangely as I wrote new bits of information and background kept coming, and suddenly I have this three-page scene all about her and she suddenly seems a lot more important than I had originally planned.

Now I didn't plan to get all political with the whole Planned Family Policy, or discussing male-female sex preferences in China, but as I stated it just sort of came out as I wrote, and looking back now, as a woman those things would heavily impact Qian Lei. Also originally the opening scene did not exist, but was added during last minute storyboarding. Originally we were going to just meet her when she arrived to play, and describe her basic appearance there, but I decided it would be better if we met her as Qian Lei the woman, and then moved into Qian Lei the Go player. This was better because with the former the lack of that evolution could force me to constantly make her a Go player who's female, while the latter lets me establish her as a woman, then move into her as a Go player without added designations. Hmmm, maybe I should write a Leitbur's Corner article on this.

Note: The match is based off the 3rd Toyota Cup, Round 1 match between Gu Li 9 – Dan (Black) and Ryu Shikun 9 – Dan (White) played on 8-26-2006.

007: Thank you. Once again you reviewed every chapter of the side story. Always a pleasure to hear your thoughts, large and small.

Enthor: Thank you. Your reviews are always something I look forward to as they are well thought out and quite enjoyable to read. I'm glad you enjoyed this side story.

White Ivy: Thank you. I'm very happy to provide you with an opportunity to see Le Ping and Waya meet, even if it was only one scene. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story as well.

Rin. Thank you. I find it reassuring that you were the first to recognize my personal troubles, as it shows you really did read over and take to heart my story, and my notes at the end.

Prodigy-X3-Bomber: Thank you. I'm glad the traffic issues of China had a special place for you, as I strive to present accuracy as much as possible.

Beanstalk1019: Thank you. I'm glad that I was able to give you a chance to enjoy your favorite character while developing him and the story in general. The belly button always pops up because it's from the only real conversation around Le Ping that involved Waya, there's just not much to work with.

Goldenrat: Thank you. I hope that what I portrayed was enough of the so-called 'power boost' for Waya as you had hoped for.

Esa Marie: Thank you. Waya against Ochi? Well even if they don't meet in the qualifier, they're set to meet up in the 1st Round of the Shinjin-O Tournament, so he'll get his shot.

Are-en1: Thank you. No need to apologize, I understand your desire to read more. I feel the same whenever I finish something and have to wait as well. Rest assured, my heart is slowly healing, and I will be returning to the main story presently.

Idhren: Thank you. I am grateful for your praise of my story and your sympathy to my personal situation. As you enjoyed my previous side story, I hope you have also gotten around to reading and enjoying Sato's story.

Vanilla Topping: Thank you. Waya take a stand against Ochi, well as I mentioned above, just wait, it will be coming up soon.

Mistress-of-Mystery: Thank you. I appreciate your comments.

Ellie: Thank you. Even if you don't have anything constructive to say, your support alone makes me happy.

Hattuteline: Thank you. Yes, such breathers from Hikaru can be relaxing. As for Qian and Waya on a balcony with Qian saying, "Oh Waya, oh Waya, wherefore art thou Waya?" well that scene itself likely won't be happening, but any possibility of eventual sparks between them, I suppose only time will tell.

Zeynel: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed this story and look forward to hearing more from you.

Etern1tyST: Thank you. Yes, adding in new characters and setting up more plot to come is part of why I write these. Even my side stories are layered that way. As of late, I've been playing Go on the Kiseido Go Server under Leitbur. If you want to stop by, I'd love to play you, or anyone else.

Wingsofeagle: Thank you. No worries, in the end you remembered this story and came to read it, and for that I am grateful.

Tintin: Thank you. I might just take you up on that offer if the need ever arises.

Kris: Thank you. Even if you are not more than just a little fond of Waya, I'm glad you took the time to read it and send me your thoughts.

Ed: Thank you. Yes, the way you defined the difference in the dialects, those were the exact words I was looking for in describing them. You may have noticed that I was having a hard time saying just what I wanted to with that.

Ambar: Thank you. I appreciate your words on my portrayal of Le Ping, and as for Waya and the Hokuto Cup, we'll have to wait and see.

Note: As my own Go strength increases, I have begun to fear that I am starting to get a bit too technical in my writing. I have tried my best to keep it from getting too difficult to understand, so feedback on this is always welcome.

Well it's back to Japan just in time for Nase's Shinshodan match. I know it's been much debated and anticipated, and if you thought Sato's match was good, I plan to deliver just as much for Nase's match. Stay tuned, and thanks to everyone again.


End file.
